British Environment secretary Michael Gove has been photographed entering Downing Street with a reusable cup.

“We are delighted to see Mr. Gove with his new reusable cup. Single-use plastic items such as coffee cups and lids have a high potential to become plastic pollution. Switching to reusables is key, and it’s important for our leaders to set an example.”

The minister, who expressed his concerns about plastic waste after watching the BBC’s Blue Planet series, had previously been pictured on numerous occasions with throw-away cups from a nearby coffee shop.

In a letter accompanying their gift, RethinkPlastic! wrote that 16 billion disposable coffee cups are consumed and discarded in the EU each year and reminded Mr Gove that alongside important government policies there is much that individuals can do to tackle plastic pollution.

RethinkPlastic’s letter to Michael Gove

The combination of plastic and paper in the cups used by popular high street chains makes the cups difficult to recycle. At the moment just 1 in 400 cups is recycled in the UK and cups from all over the world find their way into seas and oceans

Twitter users welcomed Mr Gove’s decision to put his mug where his mouth was on plastic waste and called on others to follow his example:

Be like Secretary of State for Environment Michael Gove and take a reusable cup to your favourite coffee shop today. It doesn’t have to match your tie! pic.twitter.com/ddfpwQicSM

Earlier this week the EU’s Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger called for an EU-wide plastic tax to help fill the gap left by UK budget contributions following Brexit, a suggestion that was welcomed by RethinkPlastic! and other groups:

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Meta is the news channel of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB). The EEB is Europe’s largest network of environmental citizens’ organisations. We bring together around 140 civil society organisations from more than 30 European countries. We stand for sustainable development, environmental justice & participatory democracy.